Cheney Is Ordered to Preserve Records
http://www.truthout.org/article/cheney-ordered-preserve-all-records
Cheney's attempt to subvert the Presidential Records Act hit a road
block when a federal judge rejected his legal argument and ordered him
to preserve all records. (Photo: Reuters)
Washington - A federal judge on Saturday ordered Dick Cheney to
preserve a wide range of records from his time as vice president.
The decision by the judge, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, is a setback
for the Bush administration in its effort to promote a narrow
definition of materials that must be safeguarded under the
Presidential Records Act.
The Bush administration's legal position "heightens the court's
concern" that some records might not be preserved, Judge Kollar-
Kotelly said.
A private group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington, is suing Mr. Cheney and the Executive Office of the
President to ensure that no presidential records are destroyed or
handled in a way that makes them unavailable to the public.
In a 22-page opinion, Judge Kollar-Kotelly revealed that in recent
days, lawyers for the Bush administration balked at a proposed
agreement between the two sides on how to proceed with the case.
Mr. Cheney and the other defendants in the case, Judge Kollar-
Kotelly wrote, "were only willing to agree to a preservation order
that tracked their narrowed interpretation" of the Presidential
Records Act.
The administration, the judge said, wanted any court order on what
records are at issue in the suit to cover only the office of the vice
president, not Mr. Cheney or the other defendants in the lawsuit. The
other defendants include the National Archives and the archivist of
the United States.
In response to the ruling, a spokesman for Mr. Cheney, James R.
Hennigan, said, "We will not have any comment on pending litigation."
The lawsuit stems from Mr. Cheney's position that his office is
not part of the executive branch of government.
This summer, Mr. Cheney's chief of staff, David S. Addington, told
Congress that the vice president belongs to neither the executive nor
legislative branch of government, but rather is attached by the
Constitution to Congress. The vice president presides over the
Senate.
The lawsuit alleges that the Bush administration's actions over
the past seven and a half years raise questions over whether the White
House will turn over records created by Mr. Cheney and his staff to
the National Archives in January.
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